The North Korean government has tested its third nuclear bomb. This explosion appears to be twice as powerful as the most recent test in 2009, and the North Koreans claim it was a smaller device. If so, they are moving closer to having a nuclear warhead that fits onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. That would bring the West Coast of North America into range, to say nothing of Asia. The matter is beyond serious. The question is whether anyone, including the Chinese, can do anything about it.
The state-run KCNA news agency stated [according to a BBC translation], “It was confirmed that the nuclear test, that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturised and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously, did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment.” It added that the test was in response to the “reckless hostility of the United States.”
The extent to which the North Koreans worry about events in other nations is difficult to assess. However, the timing is interesting. South Korea has just chosen a new president, Japan has a new prime minister, and Barack Obama’s State of the Union address is tonight. Moreover, the Chinese are completing their decennial transfer of power to the next generation. If Kim Jong-un and his generals did not deliberately choose to test their bomb now, it is a startling coincidence.
The world has made the usual noises about this sabre rattling. President Obama’s statement contained, “The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also contin
ue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s statement said, “The secretary-general is gravely concerned about the negative impact of this deeply destabilising act on regional stability as well as the global efforts for nuclear non-proliferation.”
It is, however, becoming more and more obvious that not even China can deliver good behavior from the Pyongyang regime. In the past, one believed that the Chinese were willing to allow North Korea its tantrums to keep the world’s eye off Tibet, human rights issues and other Chinese concerns. This latest test, which was clearly contrary to Chinese interests, suggests that China has been unable to get North Korea to cooperate. It is one thing to have a mad dog on a leash; it’s quite another to have it running loose. Does China have the sort of influence with North Korea that one previously supposed? If not, the world is in much more trouble than one imagined earlier.